Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: The Mermaids Singing (Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Mysteries) The Mermaids Singing (Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Mysteries) 4.1 out of 5 stars 166 Format: Mass Market Paperback| Change Your rating( Clear )Rate this item 4.0 out of 5 starsGritty,powerful 4.5 stars ByKindle Customeron May 30, 2016 In the mood for a grittier crime/mystery than I'd been reading of late, I stumbled upon a review of the 10th book in this series. I liked the premise of a detective and profiler partnership, so started the first book in the series, The Mermaids Singing. I admit, it was grifter than I bargained for. The level of sadistic violence in this book is not for the faint of heart, or, like me, those readers who have great difficulty getting imagery out of their head. As a result, I skimmed some of the torture scenes. Having visited a museum of torture in Edinburgh, I unfortunately have seen some of the devices described in the book. *shudder The characters in the book are well-written.

I did find some of Carol Jordan's personal reactions to some situations annoying. I suppose it could be chalked up to investigative fatigue on her part. I look forward to seeing how she manages in the next book. My complaints of this book are small: The title has no connection, that I can see, to the story. Perhaps I'm being dense. The two weasel coppers in the story don't really get their comeuppance. Maybe they will be addressed in the next book. Although, I think I'll read a lighter, less-gritty book before I dive back in to Tony and Carol's crime fighting. Kate Morton comes to mind.... 3.0 out of 5 starsSlow ByJavabeansieon January 31, 2016 This was a slog. All in all it was a decent book with a decent story. However, it reads a *lot* like Ian Rankin. Every time I was supposed to picture Tony Hill I involuntarily conjured up my image of John Rebus. And, I often find Rankin tedious at times. I've a high tolerance for gore and twisted violence but the author crossed a line early on that had me nearly quit reading -- if out of principle.

The last 20-15% of the book went quickly but the rest was slow. It was really hard to get into and I almost gave up but I'd heard good things. Not sure if I'll read another. Format: Kindle Edition | Verified Purchase In the mood for a grittier crime/mystery than I'd been reading of late, I stumbled upon a review of the 10th book in this series. I liked the premise of a detective and profiler partnership, so started the first book in the series, The Mermaids Singing. I admit, it was grifter than I bargained for. The level of sadistic violence in this book is not for the faint of heart, or, like me, those readers who have great difficulty getting imagery out of their head. As a result, I skimmed some of the torture scenes. Having visited a museum of torture in Edinburgh, I unfortunately have seen some of the devices described in the book. *shudder The characters in the book are well-written. I did find some of Carol Jordan's personal reactions to some situations annoying. I suppose it could be chalked up to investigative fatigue on her part. I look forward to seeing how she manages in the next book.

My complaints of this book are small: The title has no connection, that I can see, to the story. Perhaps I'm being dense. The two weasel coppers in the story don't really get their comeuppance. Maybe they will be addressed in the next book. Although, I think I'll read a lighter, less-gritty book before I dive back in to Tony and Carol's crime fighting. Kate Morton comes to mind.... Format: Kindle Edition | Verified Purchase I normally don't read the written versions of things I've watched as movies or TV shows, but this is an exception. Having watched _Wire in the Blood_ with Hermione Norris and Robson Green years ago, I thought this might be interesting. I was right, it was a good (if dark) read. I did find the frequent point-of-view changes a bit jarring at times on the Kindle edition. I'm not sure if maybe it's a bit better formatted in the print editions or not. This book is both graphic in terms of violence and sexual content--but it all (mostly) serves the plot in the end--so it's not a book for everyone. It's also very much a "British" story and has somewhat slow-pacing.

Overall, not a bad way to spend some time for adult armchair sleuths that can handle the graphic content. Format: Kindle Edition | Verified Purchase A British police procedural. There have 4 murders - very similar - before the police admit that there may be a serial killer loose. The police department has decided to hire a profiler, Tony Hill. However the police are split in their acceptance of profiling. CArol Jordan, police inspector, is assigned to work with Dr. Tony Hill to see what he can offer the police in the process of solving the crime. The old-time detective leading the case will not admit that there may be a serial killer on the loose, preferring to let the public think it is merely a wave of unrelated murders. The early conclusion by Tony Hill is that it certainly is the work of a serial killer further alienates him from the chief investigator. Gruesome murders Format: Kindle Edition | Verified Purchase Excellent genre book with a focus a bit more on the detectives and victims rather than the psycho bad guy. It lacks the dry humor of the Dexter series by Lindsay and the overall epic feel of a Harris novel, but it lands a happy medium.

However, for you romance fanatics who will invest in that aspect of the story, just do not do it, not this series for that aspect. You will only walk away bitter. This author takes the tired old will they/won't they cliche, masticates it, lets it rot, marinates it in sewage, and then leaves the stinking carcass to molder in the room until it manages to rot this whole franchise house. The latter books in the series are manageable only if you have no investment in that dynamic of the story at all. Format: Kindle Edition | Verified Purchase This was a slog. All in all it was a decent book with a decent story. However, it reads a *lot* like Ian Rankin. Every time I was supposed to picture Tony Hill I involuntarily conjured up my image of John Rebus. And, I often find Rankin tedious at times. I've a high tolerance for gore and twisted violence but the author crossed a line early on that had me nearly quit reading -- if out of principle. The last 20-15% of the book went quickly but the rest was slow. It was really hard to get into and I almost gave up but I'd heard good things.

Not sure if I'll read another. Format: Mass Market Paperback | Verified Purchase Maybe the best thing I realized when reading this book is that I like my mystery and police procedural novels to be much more sanitized than this one was. Because of specific mind sets within the police department in the town of Bradfield in northern England, it takes a long time for the connection to be made between three young men being murdered and a serial killer. Assistant Chief Constable John Brandon is in Manchester listening to the rationalization presented by Dr. Tony Hill for how he can help law enforcement in his role as a criminal profiler. The Home Office is setting up a network of forensic psychologists to help police solve crimes involving serial offenders. Just as the conference breaks up Brandon receives word that the fourth young, gay man has been found dead after being horribly tortured. Hill, Brandon and Detective Inspector Carol Jordan assemble a team to begin to understand this murderer and stop the killings. The novel is written so that the chapters alternate between the point of view of the killer and the official investigation. That would have been interesting except the author went into extensive detail regarding how each of the men was tortured. Ultimately these became much too graphic for me, hence my learning that I need more sanitized descriptions of death.

The other characters were interesting, but somehow none of them managed to interest me enough to actually begin to care for them. The novel was written in 1995, and has not held up very well. I enjoy reading novels published years ago, but this one just felt very dated and completely overcome by the advances made in computer and forensic technology. There is the aspect of a struggle between opposing sides within the police force for how the investigation should be handled and the press figures very prominently in the story with policemen providing information to the newspapers which affect the cases. With a mixture of horrible descriptions of torture, almost constant anti-gay derogatory statements and name calling, a plot twist at the ending which came as no surprise, and not really forming any kind of connection with the principal characters involved I'm afraid this book was just okay. One other difficulty I had was that the author never convinced me that the murdered men were actually gay. That factor needed to be much stronger and crystal clear because it was purported to be the reason behind the killings. This book certainly did not make me want to rush out and buy something else in this series or, as a matter of fact, any novels written by this author.

Sadly, not every book you pick up is going to be a favorite and not every author is going to light that spark within you which makes you eager to read more of their work. This was just such a book for me. Format: Mass Market Paperback | Verified Purchase Wow. The Mermaids Singing is the second book by Val McDermid that I read, and iI found as good as the first, if not better. It's not for the faint-hearted. A number of supposedly gay men are tortured and murdered by a serial killer, their bodies left washed and naked in the streets of Bradfield. The whole community is on edge, and the police too, who is using the services of a profiler, Tony Hill. Carol Jordan is an inspector who is taking part in the investigation, and her character adds to the interest of the story. What did I like about this book? First, the characters are real. Second, the plot is very good (You'll get a surprise at the end). Third, the writing flows. Fourth, the murder "weapons" and killings are unusual. Fifth, ditto for the murderer. Read it, you won't be disappointed.

The Mermaids Singing (Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Series #1) by Val McDermid, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® Meet the author Overview This was the summer he discovered what he wanted--at a gruesome museum of criminology far off the beaten track of more timid tourists. Visions of torture inspired his fantasies like a muse. It would prove so terribly fulfilling. The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim. A game has begun for the hunter and the hunted. But as Hill confronts his own hidden demons, he must also come face-to-face with an evil so profound he may not have the courage--or the power--to stop it... The Mermaids Singing is a chilling and taut psychological mystery from Val McDermid.

Advertising Read an Excerpt Chapter One Gentlemen, I have, had the honour to be appointed by your committee to the trying task of reading the Williams' Lecture on Murder, considered as one of the Fine Arts; a task which might be easy enough three or four centuries ago, when the art was little understood, and few great models had been exhibited, but in this age, when masterpieces of excellence have been executed by professional men, it must be evident, that in the style of criticism applied to them, the public will look for something of a corresponding improvement. Tony Hill tucked his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. There was a fine web of cracks around the elaborate plaster rose which surrounded the light fitting, but he was oblivious to it. The faint light of dawn tinged with the orange of sodium streetlamps filtered in through a triangular gap at the top of his curtains, but he had no interest in that either Subconsciotisly, he registered the central-heating boiler kicking in, readying itself to take the edge off the damp winter dull that seeped in round door and window frames. His nose was cold, his eyes gritty He couldn't remember the last time he had a straight night's sleep.

His concerns about what he bad to get through that day was part of the reason for the nights interrupted dreams, but there was more than that. Much more. As if today wasn't more than enough to worry about. He knew what was expected of him, but delivering it was another story Other people managed these things with nothing more than a short-lived flutter in the stomach, but not Tony. It required all his resources to maintain the facade he'd needto get through the day. In circumstances like these, he understood how much it took out of method actors to produce the fraught, driven performances that captivated their audiences. By tonight, he'd be good for nothing except another vain attempt at eight hours' sleep. He shifted in bed, pulling one hand out and running it through his short dark hair. He scratched the stubble on his chin and sighed. He knew what he wanted to do today, but equally, he was well aware it would be professional suicide if he did. it didn't matter that he knew there was a serial killer loose in Bradfield. He couldn't afford to be the one to say it first. His stomach clenched on emptiness and he winced.

With a sigh, he pushed the duvet back and got out of bed, shaking his legs to unfurl the concertina folds of his baggy pyjamas. Tony trudged off to the bathroom and snapped on the light. As he emptied his bladder, he reached out with his free hand and switched on the radio. Bradfield Sound's traffic announcer was revealing the mornings projected bottlenecks with a cheerfulness that no motorist could have equalled without large doses of Prozac. Thankful that he wouldn't be driving that morning, Tony turned to the sink. He gazed into his deep-set blue eyes, still bleary with sleep. Whoever said the eyes were mirrors of the soul was I a true bullshit merchant, he thought ironically. Probably just as well, or he wouldn't have an intact mirror in the house. He undid the top button of his pyjama jacket and opened the bathroom cabinet, reaching out for the shaving foam. The tremor he spotted in his hand stopped him short. Angrily, he slid the door shut with a loud crack and reached up for his electric razor. He hated the shave it produced, never leaving him with the fresh, clean feeling that came from a wet shave.

But better to feel vaguely scruffy than to turn up looking like a walking illustration of the death of a thousand cuts. The other disadvantage of the electric razor was that he didn't have to concentrate so hard on what he was doing, leaving his mind free to range over the day ahead. Sometimes it was tempting to imagine that everybody was like him, getting up each morning and selecting a persona for the day But he had learned over years of exploring other peopIe's minds that it wasn't so. For most people, the available selection was severely limited. Some people would doubtless be grateful for the choices that knowledge, skill and necessity had brought Tony. He wasn't one of diem. As he switched Off the razor, he heard the frantic chords that preceded every news summary on Brad field Sound. With a sense of foreboding, he turned to face the radio, tense and alert as a middle-distance runner waiting for the starting pistol. At the end of the five-minute bulletin, he sighed with relief and pushed open the shower curtain. He'd expected a revelation that would have been impossible for him to ignore. But so far, the body count was still three.

On the other side of the city, John Brandon, Bradfield Metropolitan Police's Assistant Chief Constable (Crime) stooped over the washbasin and stared glumly into the bathroom mirror. Not even the shaving soap covering his face like a Santa Claus beard could give him an air of benevolence. If he hadn't chosen the police, he'd have been an ideal candidate for a career as a funeral director. He was two inches over six feet, slim to the point of skinny, with deepset dark eyes and prematurely steel-grey hair Even when he smiled, his long face managed to sustain an air of melancholy.. Today, he thought, he looked like a bloodhound with a head cold. At least there was good reason for his misery. He was about to pursue a course of action that would be as popular with his Chief Constable as a priest in an Orange Lodge. Brandon sighed deeply, spattering the mirror with foam. Derek Armthwaite, his Chief, had the burning blue eyes of a visionary, but there was nothing revolutionary in what they saw He was a man who thought the Old Testament a more appropriate handbook for police officers than the Police And Criminal Evidence Act.

He believed most modem police methods were not only ineffective but also heretical... Val McDermid - Literature Literature Gregory & Co Biography Crime writer Val McDermid grew up in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, and studied English at Oxford University. She trained as a journalist and worked on various national newspapers for 14 years before becoming a writer. Her first published book was Report for Murder (1987), and since then, she has written a large number of crime novels. These include three different series of books: The Lindsay Gordon Mystery series which comprises Report for Murder (1987), Common Murder (1989), Final Edition (1991), Union Jack (1993), Booked for Murder (1996) and Hostage to Murder (2003); The Kate Branningan Mystery series which comprises Dead Beat (1992), Kick Back (1993), Crack Down (1994), Clean Break (1995), Blue Genes (1996) and Star Struck (1998); and the Dr.

Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Mystery series which includes The Mermaids Singing (1995), The Wire in the Blood (1997), The Last Temptation (2002), The Torment of Others (2004), which won the 2006 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, Beneath the Bleeding (2007), Fever of the Bone (2009), The Retribution (2011), Cross and Burn (2013) and Splinter the Silence (2015). The Wire in the Blood has been made into a successful 6-part television series. Her book Stranded (2005), is her second collection of short stories. The first collection, The Writing on the Wall and other stories was published in 1997. She is also the author of several books of non-fiction, including A Suitable Job for a Woman: Inside the World of Women Private Eyes (1995) and Forensics (2015). She has also dabbled in Children's literature, publishing the book My Granny is a Pirate in 2012.

In 2014 she rewrote Austen's Northanger Abbey for the modern age, part of the Jane Austen Project. Val McDermid was a crime reviewer for the Manchester Evening News for four years, still writes occasional journalism, and broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 4 and Radio Scotland. Her work has been translated into over 30 languages. In 2010 she won the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for outstanding achievement in the field of crime writing. In 2011, Val McDermid was the recipient of the Pioneer Award at the 23rd Annual Lambda Literary Awards. Awards Critical perspective Having worked as a trainee journalist for two years in Devon and 14 years on national newspapers in Glasgow and Manchester, Val McDermid’s career as a crime writer began with the publication of Report for Murder (1987). This became the first in the series of Lindsay Gordon Mysteries, which also includes her next two novels, Common Murder (1989) and Final Edition (1991), as well as Union Jack (1993), Booked for Murder (1996) and Hostage to Murder (2003).

She has since created two more series (featuring Kate Brannigan, and Tony Hill and Carol Jordan) as well as four stand-alone novels. In an interview with Shots magazine, McDermid explains how reading Indemnity Only (1982) by Sara Paretsky was a ‘defining moment’ for her as she realised this work shaped new boundaries for a crime writer to explore (Issue 12, March 2002). Paretsky’s novel gave her an insight into the available possibilities for writing about a plausible female detective in an urban setting whilst also exercising a concern for legal and social justice. McDermid’s interest in political engagement and the influence of a feminist perspective are apparent from her earliest novels onwards. Lindsay Gordon is an amateur detective or, rather, a journalist-sleuth and is also a vehicle for questioning government policies. Common Murder, for example, is set in Thatcher’s Britain at a women’s peace camp that bears a strong resemblance to Greenham Common.

When a peace protester explains to Lindsay why the police do not protect the women on the camp from attacks by the locals, McDermid uses the opportunity to register a criticism of defence measures taken by the United States and Britain: ‘Start accepting that we’ve got any rights and you end up by giving validity to the nightmares that have brought us here. Do that and you’re half-way to accepting that our views on disarmament are a logical position.’ Sexual politics is also on the agenda as Lindsay’s female friendships and lesbianism are central to her characterisation. Julie Bindel’s article, ‘Murder She Wrote’, offers a feminist interpretation of the recent wave of female crime writers (Guardian, 31 January 2007). She points out how popular crime fiction is with its female readership and adds that women now write over half of the novels in this genre. Bindel interviewed authors such as McDermid, Martina Cole and Mo Hayder for an overview of the use of violence in their books. McDermid makes the point that she draws a ‘particular distinction between violence that is gratuitous, and violence that is meaningful’, and avoids having ‘one-dimensional victims’.

Bindel agrees that her novels explore the reasons for, and impact of, violence: ‘McDermid writes to entertain, but also hopes that her books will, in some way, open the readers’ eyes as to how and why the atrocities she describes have occurred.’ Her second stand-alone novel, Killing the Shadows (2000), is similarly praised by Charles Taylor when he compliments her ability to maintain a humanitarian outlook as she describes the violence of a serial killer: ‘There is no one in contemporary crime fiction who has managed to combine the visceral and the humane (without making either seem a contradiction of the other) as well as Val McDermid’ (The New York Times 21 October 2001). Although there is an element of responsibility in her depictions of violence, she strenuously avoids preaching to her audience. Killing the Shadows has several inter-connected plot lines that separate and converge, and always manage to thrill. The slick dialogue, dry wit and taut plotting of this novel echo the typical style of the crime genre. The Kate Brannigan novels, which star the eponymous Manchester PI, also marry these traits with the author’s originality.

Star Struck (1998), the sixth in this series, is a useful example of Brannigan in action and was awarded the Grand Prix des Romans d’Aventure in 1998. In this novel, the popular culture of soap operas is used as a backdrop for her investigations. The third on-going McDermid series, of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, is concerned with the respective work of the criminal profiler and detective. This has been successfully adapted for television as Wire in the Blood (which is the title of the second novel in the series). The first novel, entitled The Mermaids Singing (1995), was awarded the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association Macallan Gold Dagger for Fiction in 1995. It is also worth nothing that these novels take their titles from poetry by T.S. Eliot. This use of literary allusions is furthered in her fourth stand-alone work, the psychological thriller The Grave Tattoo (2006), as this draws on the Lake District and William Wordsworth for its scenery and plot. As well as being a prolific novelist, McDermid has also written two collections of short stories.

Fellow ‘Tartan noir’ author, Ian Rankin, wrote the Foreword to her second collection, Stranded (2005), and here he explains the effectiveness of her use of different central protagonists: ‘Val has always been a restless writer – the journey through her fictional universe could never have been made by a single consistent hero or heroine – and the short-story form suits her, allowing her to pick apart relationships with a furious skill, highlighting flaws and jealousies.’ This collection is also of interest for the inclusion of the autobiographical story, ‘The Road and the Miles to Dundee’. As Rankin argues, this moving piece offers the reader a glimpse of her range as she captures her relationship with her father through a song he used to sing. The esteem for McDermid’s work is shared amongst critics and readers. She has written over 20 books in 20 years and the majority of these have been bestselling novels. She has also been either shortlisted or the recipient of awards on numerous occasions since 1994. The Grave Tattoo was awarded the Portico Prize in 2006 and demonstrates her continuing ability to convince and excite.

Dr Julie Ellam, 2007 The Mermaids Singing (Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, Book 1) - Books on Google Play The Mermaids Singing (Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, Book 1) ( 29) Description In this special 20th anniversary edition, Lee Child introduces the Gold Dagger award-winning serial killer thriller that began the Number One bestselling crime series featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill, hero of TV’s much-loved Wire in the Blood. You always remember the first time. Isn’t that what they say about sex? How much more true it is of murder... Up till now, the only serial killers Tony Hill had encountered were safely behind bars. This one’s different – this one’s on the loose. Four men have been found mutilated and tortured. As fear grips the city, the police turn to clinical psychologist Tony Hill for a profile of the killer. But soon Tony becomes the unsuspecting target in a battle of wits and wills where he has to use every ounce of his professional nerve to survive. A tense, beautifully written psychological thriller, The Mermaids Singing explores the tormented mind of a serial killer unlike any the world of fiction has ever seen.

Val McDermid The Last Temptation (Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Series #3) by Val McDermid, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® Meet the author Overview Mapping the minds of murderers is what Dr. Tony Hill does better than anyone. So when a twisted killer starts targeting psychologists across Northern Europe, Hill is the obvious choice to track the executioner's mental and physical journey. Except that Tony, still bearing the scars of past cases, doesn't want to do this anymore. But the killer is about to strike uncomfortably close to home. The next victim is a friend and colleague. And Tony's former partner, Detective Carol Jordan, is directly in the murderer's path, working undercover in a world where human life means less than the smallest drug deal. She needs Tony's help as much as the beleaguered European police officials do. Now the danger is closing in. Confronting the worst of modern crime and struggling to unravel roots that lie deep in the tormented past of Nazi atrocities and Stasi abuses, Tony and Carol are forced to battle for survival against overwhelming odds. In this morass of double-cross and double-dealing, they have no one to trust but each other.

Deftly merging the dark terrain of forensic psychology with the brooding, crime-streaked world of post-Cold War Europe, McDermid's The Last Temptation is an unrivaled tour de force that takes Tony Hill further into the mind of a killer than he's ever dared to go before. Advertising Editorial Reviews From the Publisher “Relentless, electric and absorbing, this is a thriller not to miss.” Los Angeles Times Book Review, A Best Book of 2002 “[McDermid is] the best we've got.” The New York Times Book Review “A tense thriller...a chain of events that brings a frenetic conclusion followed by a smart-well-concealed twist.” Boston Globe “A psychologically chilling and multifaceted thriller...With consummate skill and pacing, [McDermid] braids together the complex story lines through surprising revelations, heart-stopping suspense and cruel double-crosses...creating even more tension. McDermid's writing and her understanding of the criminal mind get better with each novel. With its European locales, depiction of Nazi-mind experiments and hints at another Jordan/Hill novel, this may well be her breakout book.

She certainly deserves it.” Publishers Weekly “McDermid's Dr. Tony Hill is so tortured he makes Thomas Harris's troubled heroes seem like lighthearted game-show hosts. McDermid has become a whiz at generating breathless, crosscutting suspense.” GQ “This well-executed novel has it all: a complex, suspenseful plot, a full cast of interesting characters, and two budding romances.” Library Journal “Exciting and compassionate.” Salon.com “White-knuckle suspense, hot action, and graphic chills.

Sure to be a hit with thriller fans.” Booklist “Irresistible...McDermid skillfully controls her cast...This is a hugely ambitious novel, involving three police forces, [and] the settings in Berlin are vividly evoked.” The Daily Express (UK) “More than just a serial killer novel, [The Last Temptation is] a masterful examination of evil and the relics of Nazi and Stasi years in Germany.” The Guardian (UK) “Val McDermid is one of the few crime authors who can be convincing when it comes to writing tough, yet retain a powerful emotional insight.” Scotland on Sunday (UK) “A scary, disturbing, exciting, and atmospheric white-knuckle read.” The London Times (UK) bn.com The third Dr. Tony Hill mystery pits the deliberative psychological profiler against a devious and demented serial killer. If Hill seems to be taking this case personally, he has good reason: The gruesome mass murderer is preying on psychologists! Publishers Weekly British author McDermid brings back DCI Carol Jordan and psychological profiler Dr.

Tony Hill from The Mermaids Singing (1995) and The Wire in the Blood (1997) and thrusts them into a psychologically chilling and multifaceted thriller. Jordan goes undercover in Germany as part of a dangerous operation to capture Tadeusz Radecki, an international smuggler of drugs and illegal aliens. Meanwhile, her contact in Berlin, Criminal Intelligence Officer Petra Becker, is helping her Internet lover, Dutch Brigadier Marijke van Hasselt, on a grisly case whose victims, psychological researchers, are sexually tortured and murdered. Jordan suggests that Dr. Hill work with them in Berlin. The suspense builds as scenes alternate among the two English crime fighters, Becker, van Hasselt, Radecki and his henchman, Darko Krasic, and the anonymous serial killer, whose grisly tactics echo Nazi psychological experiments. McDermid gives depth and individuality to all seven characters and each city. With consummate skill and pacing, she braids together the complex story lines through surprising revelations, heartstopping suspense and cruel double-crosses. The two major plots don't mesh, but they crisscross, creating even more tension.

McDermid's writing and her understanding of the criminal mind get better with each novel. With its European locales, depiction of Nazi mind experiments and hints at another Jordan/Hill novel, this may well be her breakout book. She certainly deserves it. (Sept. 30) Forecast: The release this summer of the two previous novels featuring Jordan and Hill in mass-market, in conjunction with a seven-city author tour, should make McDermid's name a lot better known to American readers. She has won Anthony and Gold Dagger awards and been a finalist for an Edgar. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. Library Journal In the third book of McDermid's popular series (after The Wire in the Blood and The Mermaids), Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan and psychologist Tony Hill return. Carol has agreed to go undercover in Berlin in a sting operation against the handsome and charming but ruthless trafficker in illegal immigrants, Tadeusz Radecki. Meanwhile, intelligence officer Petra Becker, the German liaison in Carol's undercover operation, has begun an online relationship with Marijke van Hasselt, a policewoman from the Netherlands.

When Marijke mentions a grizzly murder that she is investigating in Leiden, Petra remembers reading of a similar murder in Germany. Carol persuades Tony to come to Berlin to help Petra and Marijke find the killer who is targeting experimental psychologists. This well-executed novel has it all: a complex, suspenseful plot, a full cast of interesting characters, and two budding romances. Tony's persistent angst becomes rather tiresome, but even he grows more tolerable as the novel progresses. Recommended for most mystery collections. Jane la Plante, Minot State Univ. Lib., ND Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. Kirkus Reviews Whoever he is, Geronimo-the code name psychological profiler Dr. Tony Hill uses for the latest serial killer in his sights-doesn't have much use for psychologists. Beginning with Dr. Walter Neumann of the University of Heidelberg, he's been knocking them out, tying them to their own desks, stripping them, drowning them, and shaving their privates.

Geronimo's macabre ritual is so distinctive, in fact, that it's not long before cops in two European countries sense that their victims are only part of a larger pattern and start sharing their information through Europol. As luck would have it, their investigation is gathering steam just as Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan, long in love with unresponsive Tony, arrives in Germany on her first assignment as Europol Liaison Officer: to capitalize on her uncanny resemblance to Katerina Basler, late mistress of mobster Tadeusz Radecki, to go undercover as a partner in Tadzio's operation smuggling illegal Chinese in order to make him an offer he'll be too entranced to refuse-an offer that will smash his whole immigration ring. As Carol worms her way into Tadzio's confidence, Tony is building up a portrait of Geronimo from the evidence the police have painstakingly amassed. Then suddenly, on page 338, both Carol and Tony begin to act accountably reckless, setting the stage for a melodramatic third act that undercuts the considerable ambitions McDermid (Killing the Shadows, 2001, etc.) has for this dark tale.

A successor to The Mermaids Singing (1996) so densely packed that the poor serial killer almost gets dropped between the cracks. Author tour Mermaids Singing: Val Mcdermid: 9780061011757: Books - Amazon.ca By AnonCan on Feb. 3 2013 Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase Saw this on TV years ago and, while I couldn't get the images of Robson Green and Hermione Norris our of my head when I read it, the book surpasses the television portrayal. As it should. Nuanced and shocking in equal measure, Val McDermid leads the reader through the dark passages of a deranged killer's mind while making uneasy parallels with the workings of Tony Hill's damaged psyche. A thinking person's thriller, going beyond the sensational aspects of the unfolding events to lay out the rationale behind the irrational nature of the acts. Believable. Unsavoury and frightening, but believable. 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again. By Lisa Adams on Nov.

10 2016 Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase When the bodies of four men are found in the town of Bradfield, criminal profiler Tony Hill is called in to help with the investigation. As Tony immerses himself in the mind of the killer, he finds he has become one of the hunted. I meant it when I said that "Place of Execution" would not be my last Val McDermid book. I was not disappointed. Am now a solid fan. "The Mermaids Singing" is the first in the Tony Hill-Carol Jordan series. While it is dark and disturbing at times, I also found it refreshing that the victims of violent sex murders were all men. It can get tedious always seeing women cast as the victims. The plot twists and turns, and kept me riveted to the page. The characters are complex and well developed. Tony's personal history makes him particularly well suited to be the one tracking this specific killer. The writing is flat-out brilliant. If you are a fan of police procedurals and have not yet discovered Val McDermid, do yourself and favour and start reading. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again. By Daffydd on Feb. 8 2008 Format: Mass Market Paperback A few years ago I saw a few of the television shows based on the characters this novel introduces. I enjoyed the show and wanted to see more of them recently deciding to see if the shows were available on dvd. Reading the dvd details and reviews I discovered, like most good mystery shows, there were novels that came first. So I just picked up the first novel, and quickly read it. (One caveat, I may be one of the few who watch or read mysteries who isn't trying to think ahead and figure out 'who the killer is' before the main characters do, I like the slow reveal and building of suspense at the author's or directer's pace.) This is the first of four (so far) novels with main characters Dr Tony Hill and Detective Inspector Carol Jordan. I enjoyed the first half to two thirds of the book immensely. Being introduced to the characters, including the villian (the book opens with notes from the killer), and reading how Dr Tony Hill, sets himself, does his research, and gets himself into the mind of the killer, even talking it out.

That's well done. On the police side of the story, none of the police officers are carboardy, each a distinct individual, and Carol Jordan is a female officer with ambitions and intellegence,and is a woman (not a male copper in drag). And there is the angle of some in the British police force not willing to accept a profiler, believing straight police work catches the criminals. And a good balance is struck between different points of view making sense of the evidence, and possibly identifying the villian. When the story moves into the last act it lost me a little, more because I had enjoyed the flow of the first two acts so much. The last act is the killer acting against his next chosen, the police moving in the right or wrong direction, and Dr Tony Hill in the middle of it... and the clock ticking... no answers til its time. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again. By TGD on Dec 16 2015 Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase Had high expectations after reading the reviews and was sorely disappointed. First, this isn't really a detective thriller.

It's a penny romance set in the middle of a serial killer investigation. That still might have resulted in a good book for romance readers, if not for the author's completely trite writing. If you're looking for a strong female lead like Prime Suspect's Jane Tennison or Silence of the Lambs' Clarice Starling, look somewhere else. The supposedly tough detective in this story comes across as a whiny, shallow person who spends more time thinking about whom she fancies and looking at her clothes in the mirror (complete with the brands of each item) than she does about solving murders. Point of view is utterly jumbled, the characters are shallow stereotypes, and the book reads like it was written by a teenager who watched Prime Suspect once. Rather than revealing characters by their actions and dialogue, the author engages in endless internal narrative that makes it impossible to remain immersed. You can hear the author labouring away at the keyboard at every paragraph. I wanted to rewrite the whole thing on my lunch break. This is one of the only books that was so bad that I stopped reading it before the end. A complete waste of money. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again. By Laraine TOP 1000 REVIEWER on Jan. 2 2016 Format: Mass Market Paperback This is the first book in McDermid's Tony Hill series and it has taken me forever to find this so I can start the series. I'm glad I went to the trouble as it was a good read and I am going to enjoy reading more of them. Tony is a profiler and has been brought in to the English city of Bradfield after men start turning up dead, in notorious gay areas, having been tortured. Trouble is, the men aren't gay and they are being targetted but no one knows why and it's Tony's job to find out. But will he make himself a target too? A good read. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again.

Welcome to the official website of the celebrated and best selling Scottish crime writer Val McDermid… More about Wire in the blood… Wire In The Blood 5th & 6th Series On DVD – June 2009 The final two series of the gripping ITV drama now available to own in a fantastic set… For more information about the Wire in the Blood TV series visit Robson Green’s Website . Released 03 August 2009 ITV Fail To Recommission Wire In The Blood – Val McDermid – March 2009 I’m very sad to report that ITV have refused to recommission WIRE IN THE BLOOD for a seventh series. All of us involved with the show have been in a state of shock since we got the news. It’s inexplicable to me. In spite of the fact that ITV have never given us a regular slot, the show has gone out at varying times of the year, on different nights and in at least three formats in terms of length, we have consistently delivered some of the highest audiences for any ITV drama. We have consistently been the most-watched show on any channel.

According to official ratings figures, well over 90% of our viewers regard the show as an appointment‚ with the TV ie, they don’t just watch because there’s nothing else on. The show is seen on 120 channels world-wide. It’s won awards, it’s just been shortlisted for an Edgar by the Mystery Writers of America. Year after year, Coastal have produced fantastic quality on a shoestring budget that has diminished in real terms. They’ve brought millions of pounds into the economy of the North East of England and because they’re the only company in the region producing network drama, this axing means a loss of skills and a loss of voice that goes way beyond our personal interests. More… Wire In The Blood VI DVD – March 2009 Wire in the Blood series VI out on DVD Starring Robson Green, Simone Lahbib, Mark Letheren and Emma Handy. The sixth series of this massively popular drama comes to DVD on 2nd March 2009. Dr. Tony Hill is back in four more dark, gripping episodes of ITV’s thrilling series Wire In The Blood.

Socially awkward and unorganised, and with his private life spilling from his favoured plastic bags, Tony Hill’s unique insight into the fractured mind remains invaluable to Bradfield C.I.D. as the close knit team continue to hunt for the killers, rapists and sadists stalking their streets. And, in this series, nobody is safe. In episode one, “Unnatural Vices” the victims are having their limbs systematically cut off, apparently while they are still alive, with the masked perpetrator calmly eating their severed body parts in front of them as they remain conscious. Could a police officer be next on the killer’s gruesome menu? Based on Val McDermid’s best selling novel The Last Temptation, “Falls the Shadow” sees a confused Tony named as the main suspect when an Experimental Psychologist’s mutilated body is discovered in her hotel room, with Dr Hill’s blood and fingerprints all over the crime scene. Young men are going missing in the dark episode “From the Defeated“, only to turn up beaten, strangled and shot in the head. The team must discover any link between these deaths and the underground world of dog fighting, and quickly, before another young victim is taken.

Gripping stuff… — Daily Express And finally, in episode 4 “The Dead Land“, Tony and Alex’s relationship begins to grow and evolve, but the socially inept doctor is continually missing all the signals. Meanwhile the freshly cleansed bodies of the homeless and vulnerable are turning up abandoned in Bradfield. Can the team collect all the pieces of the jigsaw before another gruesome death? Starring Robson Green as the hapless yet brilliant Dr. Hill and Simone Lahbib as the supportive and patient Alex Fielding, Wire In The Blood remains one of ITV’s most popular series, with author Val McDermid nominated for the channel’s Writer’s Award for Classic TV Drama, alongside the likes of Colin Dexter, Ian Rankin and Lynda La Plante. Cat No: PAR61427 | RRP: £19.99 Order this DVD from Amazon Wire In The Blood Series VI – September 2008 Wire in the Blood set for series six… Robson Green has to confront a cannibal killer with a deadly vendetta in a new series of the hard-hitting drama, Wire in the Blood.

The gritty films see eccentric clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill (Robson Green) facing his criminal nemesis – with devastating consequences for both him and his police colleague DI Fielding (played by Simone Lahbib). Tony’s battle with the killer Michael (Jolyon Baker) forms the backbone of the eight-week series, which has a new format of four two-part stories. When human remains are found on wasteland, Alex brings Tony to investigate theories of honour killings and fetishism. But the killer has Tony in his sights and the inquiry becomes frighteningly personal. Tony also finds himself a prime suspect in a police investigation when a woman who tries to seduce him is found dead. Alex and Tony join forces to track down the men or women responsible for a catalogue of shocking attacks in the northern town of Bradfield, including a series of prostitute murders, the mysterious disappearance of young men and bizarre killings of homeless people. Once again, Tony’s uncanny understanding of human behaviour enables him to empathise with both victim and killer – even to the point of sensing the killings themselves. Wire In The Blood Box-Set Series III & IV – April 2008 The Complete Third and Fourth Series… Starring Robson Green, Hermione Norris and Simone Lahbib.

4 DVD Set Out To Buy (UK) on 05-May-2008 Clinical Psychologist, Dr Tony Hill and Detective Inspector Carol Jordan are reunited for four more dark and disturbing cases in Series III, hunting brutal killers terrorising the northern town of Bradfield. An obsessive fascination with the fractured criminal mind, leads Dr Hill and D.I. Jordan on an intense and vivid journey into a dark world of faceless serial killers. It is a race against time as they try to anticipate the killer’s very next step, and identify the next possible victim, each case putting more pressure on their close relationship. Series IV sees Tony Hill’s calls to Carol Jordan going unanswered and with the appeal courts investigating his influence in a previous case, Tony must once again pit himself against the horrific serial killers stalking the northern town of Bradfield. But in ‘Time To Murder and Create’, as yet another body is discovered, do the police, and the new D.I. in particular, still want his help? Do they still trust his instincts as they hunt a callous sex fiend luring desperate young girls to their grisly deaths?

Wire In The Blood VI – Update From Val Mcdermid – March 2008 “Filming is now under way for a sixth series of WITB. Again, we’ve got a terrific set of scripts and from what I’ve seen so far, performances to match. The special that was filmed in Texas over the summer, Prayer of the Bone, will be aired early in the New Year, so keep an eye on the UK TV schedules and make sure you don’t miss it. I guarantee it’ll have you sweating in your seat.” Best… Wire In The Blood IV Two Disc Box-Set Available – October 2007 Robson Green returns as clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill in a new series of ITV1′s Wire In The Blood – and the cases are his most disturbing yet. With his calls to Carol Jordan going unanswered and with the appeal courts investigating his influence in a previous case, Tony must once again pit himself against the horrific serial killers stalking the northern town of Bradfield. But in Time To Murder and Create, as yet another body is discovered, do the police, and the new D.I. in particular, still want his help?

Do they still trust his instincts as they hunt a callous sex fiend luring desperate young girls to their grisly deaths? In the episode Torment, based on the novel by award-winning author Val McDermid, Tony must also find the vicious killer attacking prostitutes with razor blades and save a close team member from certain death. But what could the killer want with her? Delve into the murky, secretive world of the Freemasons in the episode Hole In The Heart. Is this secret society behind a wave of horrific sacrificial deaths and suicides? And what is the Church’s role in these gruesome deaths? And in the final episode of this suspense-filled series, when a convict blames his profiling for what looks like a gross miscarriage of justice, Tony is finally forced to question whether he still has that uncanny ability to see into the minds of killers and rapists. Has his tumour effected his judgement?

Question: VVhich author created the character Dr Tony Hill in the 1995 novel The Mermaids Singing?
Answer: Val McDermid